Duplicating machine



y L M. NEWGARD 2,160,080

' DUPLICATING MACHINE Original Filed April 22, 1935 c 2/ 20 INVENTOR 02' J 9 f. j?- Nzggczrd ATTORNEY Patented May 30, 1939 STATES b me ne a si n en s, to Gel-.Sten, In rr rated, Wilmington, DeL, acorporation of Dela Ware- Applieation AprilZZ, 1935,, Serial No. 17,630 Renewed February 6, 1939' 14 Claims.

carried even by smallchildren, and which for these reasons may find its place in the school or the home, as well as in the oifice or otherplace of business. To this end, the invention consists in the combinations hereinafter fully described and illustrated in the appended drawing, of

15. which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a copying device embodying the invention,

Fig.2 is a substantially corresponding side elevation of the device, and

Figs. 3 to 6, inclusive, illustrate. details of constructionv which will hereinafter be fully described.

The device of the invention. is, in Figs. 1 and 2, shown to comprise a base i, on the top of which a resilient pad 2 is fastened. This pad is preferably sufficiently smaller than the base to leave a substantial margin l entirely encompassing the pad. On this margin is afforded space for mounting and operating various devices presently to be described, besides offering protection for these devices against collision with other articles which maybe present on. the table or desk upon which the device is placed.

On the marginal. surface, at one, end of the pad, is mounted a channeled member 3, of a size to receive and hold the clip l, of a flexible printing medium 5 which, for the sake of brevity, herein is termed the film. Near the opposite end of the pad 2, a bail 6 is shown, mounted to swing on pivots 8, 1, and the cross bar of this ball is correspondingly channeled toreceive the clip 9. at the opposite end of thefilm 5.

The clip 4 of the film is first inserted into the member 3 and the bail swung into upright position to permit the clip 9 to be pushed intothe v groove of its crossbar. The length of the film and the position of the bail on the base are properly calculated to stretch the film tightly across the face of the pad, when the bail again is. swung forwardinto the position indicated in Fig. 2. 5 Such stretching is necessary in order to obtain satisfactory results in the operation of the device.

If, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the pivots I, 8 are placed high enough to bring the forward end of the film beyond the dead center and then below the level of the pivots, the pull of the film itself may be sufiicientto maintain the parts in this position. It is, however, a simple matter pivotally to mount a suitable catch Hi on the base margin, of" a size:- to. be swung over the top of the bail crossbar positively to lock the bail in position.

It was above stated that the pad is made from resilient material, such as a thick piece of sponge rubber, and the employment of such resilient pad not only. makes the stretching of the film more efiective, because the ends of the pad become slightly compressed, substantially as indicated inthe drawing, at 2 permitting the elastic tension of the pad material to maintain a continuous, yielding pressure against the film, but also because thereby more perfect copying is attained. It is, of course, possible to employ a non-yielding pad, but such has not been found to give so good results nor to help maintain the film taut.

Anyone familiar with the operation ofhectographic duplicating'devices will appreciate that, in operation, a sheet containing the matter to be copied is laid, face down, on the film to permit the film to absorb the copying ink on its face. Also that blank sheets are subsequently applied to the film gradually to absorb the ink therefrom.

Because the sheets not necessarily always are the same size, it is required to provide means for properly locating each successive sheet. Such means is here shown to consist of a member 29, fitted, to slide along one side, margin of the base and provided with an endstop 29 and side stop 20*. When each sheet is pushed into the corner comprised by these stops, uniformly good results will be obtained.

The printing medium, or film, in hectographic devices, is made with a gelatinous covering, capable of absorbing the copying ink. The sheets placed on this film adhere most tenaciously and are difficult to pick up without damaging the film or tearing the sheet, making the copying operation very slow. In order to overcome this difficulty, the rear edge of the member 29 is shown folded back to provide an inclined surface 2U, upon which the front end, l5, of the sheet comes to a stop when properly located and from which it readily may be picked up.

To insure proper transfer of the ink from the film to the sheet, it is customary to employ a roller or a squeegee to bring every part of the sheet into perfect contact with the film. In this case, a squeegee member 2! is employed. This member is made channel shaped in order to facilitate manipulation by placing the four fingers within the channel and positioning the thumb against the front wall Zi of the member, substantially as indicated in Fig. 3. Holding the wall 21* firmly clamped between the fingers, the squeegee is moved forward along the sheet until the curved rear edge of the locating member 28 is reached. This position is indicated in Fig. 3, and it is important to note that the end, i5, of the sheet is caused to rise up from the incline 20. The thumb is now quickly flipped in front of this upright portion of the sheet to press this portion against the front wall of the squeegee, which latter thereupon may be lifted up to draw the sheet away from the film.

With a little practice, the squeegee may be operated by anyone to press the sheet against the film, to grip the edge of the sheet and to with draw the sheet quickly, smoothly and without tearing or damaging the parts. The locating member 20 is made with the extension 26 slidable on the base, as above explained, to facilitate its correct positioning. As shown in Fig. 4, the locator 25 may, however, be made without this extension, and it is found that, when placed on the film, such simple locator will adhere so tightly that ordinary operation of the device will not disturb its position. But, of course, greater care must be employed in placing this locator squarely on the film.

It is important, also, that the film be placed correctly because, if the ends of the film are not seated in the member 3 and the bail 5 in exact alinement, diagonal folds will be present in the stretched film. Such folds may be so slight as to escape the notice of the operator, and yet be the cause of imperfect copying. For this reason, it is preferable to provide means for properly locating the film ends, and such means is in Figs. 6 and 5 shown to comprise a series of indentations or depressed lips 6 of the bail member 6, engaging notches or pockets 9 in the clip 9. The member 3 and clip 4 should, of course, be similarly equipped.

From the foregoing description, it should be clear to anyone versed in the art, that I aim to provide means for stretching a film across a suitable impact surface and for correctly positioning the film relative to this surface. Furthermore, that I employ means for locating printing sheets on this surface and for conveniently and expeditiously manipulating such sheets. But the particular means herein described are merely illustrative of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A flat base equipped with a raised resilient pad, a flexible gelatinous printing medium, means at the ends of said pad for receiving the ends of said medium, one of said receiving means being movable to stretch the medium across the said pad, the pad becoming increasingly compressed towards the ends as the film is stretched thereby to maintain the film under tension, and interengaging means embodied in said receiving means and in the ends of the said printing medium for correctly alining the latter in the former.

2. A flat base having a printing backing, a film, means on said base for stretching the film across said backing, and a printing sheet locator having an inclined back on which to rest the edge of the located sheet, said locator terminating in a channeled member seatable to slide along one side edge of the base.

3. A flat base having a printing backing, a film, means on said base for stretching the film across said backing, and a printing sheet locator slidable along said base, said locator having an inclined back on which to rest the edge of the located sheet, a stop for the left side edge of the sheet, and a channeled member slidably fitting the edge of the base.

4. The combination with a base fitted to hold a film stretched, of a locator comprising a base seatable on said film and held in position by adhesion, said locator having back and end stops for sheets of paper are made with its front edge curved backward to hold the edge of said paper elevated above the film.

5. For use in connection with a gelatinous printing surface and a sheet placed thereon, a channeled squeegee comprising a base movable to press the sheet against said surface and made with flanges between which to insert the fingers of one hand while the thumb of the same hand engages the external surface of one of the flanges.

6. A channeled squeegee comprising a base from which rise flanges between which to insert the fingers of one hand while the thumb of the same hand engages the exterior surface of one of said flanges.

7. A flat base equipped with a raised resilient pad, afiexible gelatinous printing medium, stationary means at one end of said pad for receiving one end of said medium, pivoted means at the other end of the pad for receiving the opposite end of the medium, said pivoted means being movable to stretch the printing medium across said pad, and means for locking the said pivoted means to the base with the printing medium stretched.

8. A flat base equipped with a raised resilient pad, a flexible gelatinous printing medium, stationary means at one end of said pad for receiving one end of said medium, and pivoted means at the other end of the pad for receiving the opposite end of the medium, said means being rotatable on its pivot to stretch the printing medium across said pad increasingly to compress. the pad towards the ends and by continued movement until stopped by the base to pass dead center and thereby to become yieldingly locked against return movement, due to the resiliency of the compressed pad.

9. A flat base equipped with a raised resilient pad, a flexible gelatinous printing medium, stationary means at one end of said pad for receiving one end of said medium, and pivoted means at the other end of the pad for receiving the opposite end of the medium, by swinging said pivoted means over the end of the pad and thereby to compress the ends of the pad more completely to stretch the printing medium.

10. A flat base equipped with a raised resilient pad, a flexible printing medium, means at the.

ends of the said pad for receiving the ends of said medium, one of said receiving means being movable to stretch the printing medium across the pad and to maintain the medium yieldingly stretched, and means on the base for positively locking said stretching means.

11. A sheet locator seatable on a gelatinous printing surface, said locator having an inclined back on which to hold the edge of the sheet raised clear of the printing surface for the purpose of facilitating stripping the sheet from the printing surface, and made with a stop at one end for properly locating the sheet.

12. In a duplicating machine having a flat base, a film, means for stretching said film on the base, and a paper sheet locator having a raised back on which to rest the edge of the located sheet, said locator having means engaging the base for sliding the locator along the surface of said film.

13. A flat base, a thick resilient pad rising from said base, there being a wide margin on the base around said pad, a film, means on said base for stretching the film across said pad, and a sheet locator comprising a channeled portion slidably embracing one edge of the base, a portion rising to the top of the base, and a locator portion horizontally extending from said rising portion across the said pad.

14. A fiat base, a thick resilient pad rising from said base, there being a wide base margin around said pad, a film, means on said base for stretching the film across said pad, and a sheet locator comprising a channeled portion slidably embracing one edge of the base, rising therefrom and extending across the top of the pad, said horizontally extending portion having a beveled front edge on which to rest a sheet and a back stop for said sheet.

INGWALD M. NEWGARD. 

